Arc-breaking insulation-block for electric switches.



H. HANSEN.

ARC BREAKING INSULATION BLOCK FOR 1110mm SWITCHES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I7, 19H.

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H HANSEN.

ARC BREAKING INSULATION BLOCK FOR ELECTRIC SWITCHES.

APPLICATION FILED APR.

Patented May 2, 1916.

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HERMAN HANSEN, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 FRANCIS KEIL & SON, OFNEW YORK, N. Y.

ARC-BREAKING INSULATION-BLOCK FOR ELECTRIC SWITCHES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

Application filed April 17, 1914. Serial No. 832,535.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HERMAN HANSEN, a citizenof the United States of America, and a resident of New York, in thecounty and State of New York, have invented a certain new and usefulArc-Breaking Insulation- Block for Electric Switches, of which thefollowing is a specification, th e same be ng a full, clear, and exactdescription of the 1nvention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to electric clrcuitchanging devices cominggenerally under the head of push button snap switches and designed foremployment in the industrial application of electricity, as for example,in connection with electric lights and house wiring and for small poweror heating purposes, etc., and in particular to an arc:bre aking devicepreferably used in a swltching mechanism of the class named by which thecontact terminals may be positively and quickly locked in electricengagement with the main line electrodes, or else held locked in aposition disengaged therefrom, and wherein no injurious are can beformed between the contact blades and the terminal electrodes becausethey are protected by an arc-breaking insulation block so situated as toprotect the spring electrodes against possible fusion or grounding, thewhole being of comparatively simple construction and operating withcertainty and precision.

To attain the desired end, the invention consists in the construction,arrangement and operation of parts hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings is illustrated one type of a switchingmechanism in which the invention is embodied, in which the separateparts of the improvement are designated by suitable reference charactersin each of the views, and in which Figure 1 represents aside elevation,partly in section, of an instrument constructed according to myinvention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a verticalsection taken on the line 3, 3, Fig. 4; Fig. 4 is an end elevation ofthe push buttons and parts adjacent thereto; Figs. 5 and 10 are planviews of the terminals and arc-breaking block; Fig. 6 is an elevation ofthe same partly in section; Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 7, 7,Fig. 6; Figs. 8 and 9 are elevations in detail of the terminals andarcbreaking insulation therefor; Fig. 11 is a side elevation of myinvention used with another contact blade; Fig. 12 is a plan view of theterminals and block; Fig. 13 is an elevation of the same; Fig. 14 is asection taken on the line 14, 14, Fig. 13; and Figs. 15 and 16 areelevations in detail of the terminals and insulation therefor.

Referring particularly to the drawings, in which one style of anelectric switching mechanism is shown, although obviously the inventionmay be used with other types of switches, whether snap or otherwise, 3denotes a stationary bridge piece or bar having or1fices through whichwork the push buttons 2, and also preferably havin means for engagementwith an electrical y nonconducting porcelain or fireproof compositioncasing 1. The said bar 3 has depending extensions 4 at the extremitiesof which are formed shoulders 5, and it is also made with slots 6 andwith journals for a shaft 7- around which is coiled a spring 19. Bigidlysecured to the ends of the shaft 7, at the exterior faces of theextensions 4, is a U-shaped part or movable bridge piece 9, the sideportions of the same lying adjacent to the said extensions 4 beingenlarged and made with peripheral openings or slots 10 and 11 located atopposite sides of the part 9.

The said enlarged portion of the part 9 also carries, at the front facethereof, preferably insulated switching contact blades or terminals 12which are oscillated when the said part is moved, A rocking yoke,preferably made in two'parts 13, 14, and having the median portion ofeach part lying adjacent to the inner faces of an extension 4, worksloose onthe shaft 7, to the respective ends of which yoke are pivotedthe extensions 8 of the push buttons 2. The elements 13, 14, each alsocarry a cam as 15, 16, which cams project toward each other and areturned in opposite directions, and each engage slots formed in the loweredge of a sliding and longitudinally reciprocating detent 17 which worksin the slots 6 in such a manner that, when one end of the yoke 13, 14 isdepressed by a button, one cam, as 15, will push the detent laterally inone direction, and when the other end of the yoke is depressed the othercam, as 16, will force the detent in the opposite direction.

Each part 13, 14 has an ear 18 which ears extend inwardly or toward eachother. The

are adapted and arranged to respectively lie either in one of the smallslots 10 of the part 9 and against one of the shoulders formed by thelong shot 11 located at the other side of the device, or else in theother small slot 10 and against the other shoulder of the slot 11.

. It has been found in practice that heavy sparking takes place at thecontact blades 12 when the circuit is opened and if this is notprevented, it soon burns and roughens the surface of the blades and oneor both' of the line terminals, and consequently the switch is thrownout of service. Repeated occurrences of these fiashings will soon heatup the parts and even result in fusing the terminals sometimes, and inoccasioning grounding. In order to obviate this objection, I havedevised means for protecting the contact blades 12 and electrodes 20from heavy sparking by providing an arc-breaking block comprising adielectric member 21 having a pocket all the sides of which are made-ofinsulating material. These blocks, having pockets which lie in the pathof the contact blades, are preferably lined at the portions of the samenearest the said blades with metal on each side thereof which, in thepresent instance, comprise the conductor terminals 20 which form ametallic facing for the blocks. comprising the terminals proper arepreferably arranged in alinement with the sides of the pocket andtangentially to the path of the contact member and are also so locatedthat the extreme parts of the same nearest the interior of the pocketwill be approxi mately parallel with the edge of the contact bladecooperating therewith as it passes by and leaves the said fingersconstituting each electrode. Consequently, the contact blade in itsmovement in opening the circuit is first in contact throughout itsentire width with the preferably spring terminal. Then, as it movesalong its path, a portion of the contact blade lies in the insulatedsection of the pocket and a part of the blade still lies in and restsagainst the fingers of the metallic terminal. Upon a still furthermovement of the blade taking place, the whole face of the same will liein the in sulated part of the pocket excepting a thin line adjacent tothe edge of the blade which still contacts the terminal in a parallel oralined relation. \Vhen the edge of the blade does finally leave the edgeof the terminal it is manifest that as nearly all of the entire Thesemetal parts 22,, also preferably made of dielectric ma-.

terfi'al, thus forming a duplex insulating andarc-breaking block. Bymeans of this construction, the whole combination of parts, comprisingthe terminals 20, the pockets 21, and the web or body portion 22 may bemoved as an entirety, and removed from, or replaced in, the casing atw1ll as a unitary organization.

The operation of parts is as follows, the same being in the positionshown in Figs. 1 to 4, where the circuit is shown as being closed z'Bygradually pushing the raised button 2 in a downward direction, in orderto open the circuit, the extension 8 thereof forces the left hand end ofthe rock yoke 13, 14- downwardly and the ear 18 of the part 1.3, whichwas previously in alinement with the'horizontal portion of the bridgepiece9 (as shown in Fig. 3) will move one end of the spring 19 towardthe right, thereby increasing the tension of the same, the other end ofthe spring being prevented from moving, with its ear 18, by being heldimmovable by resting against the opposite edge of the opposite end ofthe horizontal portion of the bridge 9 which latter still rests againstthe left hand shoulders 5 of the depending extensions 1, the ends of thespring being on opposite sides of their ad- -jacent ears 18 and of thehorizontal part of the element 9. Upon the continued depression of thebutton, the rock yoke 13, 14:, is swung farther around, which movementcauses the cams 15, 16, to force the detent 17 to the left (in theposition shown in Fig. 4) until it passes through the slot 10 at theright hand of the side part of the bridge 9 far enough for the slot inthe same (out of which the cam 16 has 'in the meantime passed) toregister with the left hand side piece of the said bridge piece, and forthe right hand end of the detent 17 to no longer project out from theslot 6 at the right hand side of the part 4. The bridge piece 9 beingnow free to move is forced ahead by the left hand leg of the spring andswings around, toward the rising button, thereby moving the contactblades to an inoperative "position, farthermovement being prevented bythe impingement of the right hand shoulder of the slot 11 with thedetent 17 and that of the horizontal part of the bridge 9 against theright hand ears 5 of the extensions 4, the other end of the detent 17now registering with the other slot 10. When the pressure on thedepressed button is released, the rock yoke 13, 14, has sufiicient playto swing around slightly-in the opposite direction, thereby causing theears 15, 16, to force the detent 17 to move a sufficient distance toengage the said slot 10. \Vhen the newly raised button is now againdepressed the parts are moved in the opposite directions to' thosealready described and the detent 17 is pushed to the right (in theposition shown in Fig. 4) a sufficient distance for the left hand edgeof the same to clear the slot 10 in the side part of the bridge 9whereupon the parts will again assume the position shown in thedrawings.

In the first operation described of depressing a button, in order toopen the circuit, the contact blades enter their respective insulatingpockets and are thereby so inclosed that there is no opportunity for theelectric fluid to leap across an open gap as wouldotherwise be the case,as where no arc-breaking insulating block is employed. By the use of myarc-breaking insulation block, however, it has been found that when thecircuit is opened in the manner described, and even upon repeated andcontinuous operations of the switch. no heating occurs to deleteriouslyaffect th working parts thereof. and no excessive sparking. such as'would otherwise be the case and which might melt the terminals so as tofuse the same or 00- casion grounding of the device, can occur.

Although the invention is described as applicable to one type ofswitching mechanisms, yet, obviously, the same may be used in connectionwith a great variety of instruments where it is desired to protect theoperative working parts thereof from arcing.

I sometimes make the connecting portion or body or web of the membercomprising the insulating block in duplex form as shown in Fig. 10. inwhich case. the rear part of the said body or web is preferably cut awaysomewhat in approximately a circular form as is indicated by the dottedline 23 in Fig. 6 in order not to interfere with the rocking movement ofthe contact member or blade 12.

It occasionally happens that it becomes desirable to use duplex memberscomprising contact blades, or those comprising two ad jacent springfingers. as shown at 25. In such instances. the terminal. is preferablyconstructed and arranged so as to be capable of being entered betweenthe fingers 25 as is illustrated at 25, 24. The construction of theinsulating blocks used in such cases preferably comprises a-bar or plate26 made of a suitable dielectric, which plate may have the respectiveparts of the preferably duplex electrodes 24 located at each side faceof the same. The members comprising the insulating blocks 26 may also insuch instances, as in the construction heretofore described, beconnected by connecting means consisting of a web or body portion 27.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction shown and described, for obviousmodifications will occur to persons skilled in the art.

What I claim as my invention is:-

1. In an electric switch, a receptacle, a member having two contactfaces pivoted therein, line terminals at the interior of the receptacleand supported at opposite sides thereof, each terminating in a pair ofconductors extending inwardly and in a parallel relation into thereceptacle in the paths of the ends of the contact member andtangentially to the same, and insulating blocks to also support the saidterminals, each having an are breaking pocket the sides of which are inalinement with the said terminals. whereby the faces of the contactmember, in use, are alternately in electrical engagement with theterminals and insulated in the said pockets.

2. In an electric switch, a receptacle. a line terminal member at theinterior of the receptacle and supported at a side thereof and extendinginwardly at an angle into the receptacle. an insulating block likewisesustained by the receptacle to also support the said terminal and havingan are breaking pocket located in alinement with the terminal. and apivoted contact member to alternately engage the terminal member and toenter into the pocket of the block.

In testimony of the foregoing specification I do hereby sign the same inthe city of New York. county and State of New York, this 9th day ofApril. 1914.

HERMAN HANSEN.

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